The Changi book: resurrected 70 years on

Some 70 years after its originally planned publication, The Changi book, a fascinating collection of personal accounts of life for Australian prisoners of war inside Singapore’s notorious Changi prison camp during the Second World War, was launched by the Australian War Memorial today.

Intended for release in 1945 but postponed by industrial action and supply shortages at the time, the project has long laid dormant – until now.

The Director of the Australian War Memorial, Dr Brendan Nelson, said material for The Changi book was rediscovered in the Memorial’s archives and appears here as a complete volume for the first time along with insight from the Memorial’s experts.

“The Changi story is synonymous with suffering, hardship, and the Australian prisoner-of-war experience in the Second World War. It is also one of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and survival.

“While we must never forget the 8,000 Australian prisoners of war who died during captivity at Changi, we also need to remember the experiences of the 14,000 who survived the ordeal.” Dr Nelson said.

Edited by Memorial historian Dr Lachlan Grant, The Changi book provides a unique view of some of the characters who survived the prison camp. The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 200 images from the Memorial’s collection, many of which have never before been published.

“The story of Australian prisoners of war, from the extraordinary camp at Changi to the brutal enslavement on the Burma–Thailand Railway, has become indelibly engrained in the Australian wartime narrative. This collection of essays, written by those who were there, while they were there, paints a rich and vivid picture of life in captivity,” Dr Grant said.

Dr Grant added that, as they boarded ships for home, the former prisoners took with them what meagre belongings remained after three and half years of captivity. Among these were diaries, papers, drawings, artworks, photographic negatives, objects, and mementoes – all records of their time in Changi.

“However small, these were cherished reminders of their survival, their war. It is to those men and women who were so dedicated to keeping this record that the Australian War Memorial owes this book. Seventy years on, this volume stands as a record of their work, and of their own individual experiences of Changi,” he said.

The release of this latest collection book by the Memorial, written in the tradition of the highly popular The Anzac book, comes just before the 70th anniversary of the liberation of prisoners from Changi on 5 September. 

In addition to launch the Memorial is hosting a book event with Dr Brendan Nelson and Dr Lachlan Grant – for more information please contact media@awm.gov.au.